Lost Soul of a Lost Child
by Sesshiria
Summary: We've watched and read as Inu and the others battle through all dangers. We know the story of how the jewel came into being, but what about life before the jewel?
1. Lost Memory

Konnichiwa! A random pointless idea for a story that probably won't get too far follows, but oh well.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea as of this point in time. Well, actually, I own all the other people mention except her, but their dead, so it doesn't really matter.

Enjoy…

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It was dark and cold. The moon was shrouded by the clouds, rain poured down from the heavens - scouring the landscape- and the wind nipped at her exposed flesh. She shivered, though she didn't really comprehend the cold, and pulled her tattered kimono closer to her before releasing it once more. She had come to welcome the rain as it fell, for, though it did slow her down and often brought that strange shiver, it also cleansed and soothed her wounds, of which she had many. 

She had been traveling for a long time, she knew, but she didn't know how long exactly. She had no sense of time, no knowledge of days, months or years, and the cycles of the moon meant nothing when you could not see it. What importance has time to one who has nothing to prepare for, nothing to look forward to, and no awareness to the fact that the future does exist?

Finally, her obscured eyesight and the eternal trembling forced her to take shelter among the forest that stood around fifty meters to her left. The journey there, now off the path she had been following, was rather harsh, tearing open old wounds and scraping in new ones, though it did not help that she would trip over every pebble that stood in her way. Her right arm hung paralyzed at her side as she crawled across the muddy landscape. A slight sprain in her ankle caused her to limp, but she didn't notice.

Her thoughts were on her immediate destination, focused as she could get them, but often memories of her past would leak in, catching her off balance. She could tell you how many were in her family, possibly the names of her siblings, and she could let you know that not a single one of them lived, but she didn't know any more than that. She could not remember her mother's smile, or her father's scolding voice, she couldn't remember if her sister Aoko was older or younger than herself. All true memories of them had left her, even those of their demise, but she did know that they had existed, for she had stood by their bodies, surrounded by smoldering flames that had once been their home. Her mother, father, Aoko, Akako, Yuki, Tsuki, Taiyô, and her… That was when she started wondering.

She finally realized it, though to you the readers that may seem strange, after all that time, she finally noticed that she had no idea who she was. She could not recall her name, age, birthday, and, when it came down to it, she wasn't even sure whether or not she was alive. Maybe her body was lying in the ruins of her home, encircled by those of her sibling, and she was only wandering this earth as a spirit, incapable of moving on. It would certainly explain why she really couldn't feel pain, though it did feel soothing when wounds were cleansed, and perhaps the coldness as well, for it was said that when a spirit was present it would often get deathly cold. 

While her thoughts were distracted, she had made it to the forest, burying herself ever deeper among the trees, some warmth returning to her nearly lifeless shell as the wind passed over and around the trees. The rain was a different matter, small drops navigated through the leaves to fall at random intervals. The trees moaned around her, seeming to talk amongst themselves, creatures not bothering to hide while under their protection. Every once in a while she would pass by a youkai, who usually paused in their goings on to stare at her curiously before continuing in their business. 

She finally stopped, not really knowing why, but she sensed that she was safe. She was in a covered clearing, in the center was a large, mostly flat boulder on top of which rested a collection of youkai kittens, a half dozen in all. She limped in closer, staring at their sleeping forms and it came to mind that their mother was no where to be found, which was unusual for youkai mothers were exceedingly overprotective. As she watched them in wonderment at their abundance of life even in sleep, she came down with a sudden bout of fatigue herself. Lowering herself to lay beside the boulder, she finally rested for the first time since waking beside her parents' lifeless corpses.

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…Aya… not quite sure where this is going, but lets all hope I finish it… unlike practically every other story I have ever had the idiocy to start. *bangs head on table* Well, we'll just have to see, right? Anyway, I'm going to get started on the next installment (I'm having fun with big words here, I can't use them anywhere else, after all, without having to hand out dictionaries)… this is deep… I'm confusing myself (not hard to do) so I'm just going to leave now and hope someone reviews…

Ja ne…

Sesshiria 


	2. Kirara

Okay, so my chapters probably aren't going to be very long… as you can see, but I promise to work on it… hey, at least I got this chapter out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

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The rain, after three strait days of it, had finally stopped, the winds settling with the dissipating of the clouds. The leaves of trees shone in the morning light, coated with layers of raindrops that slowly but surely made their way down to the ground. A small fire cat stepped into her clearing, carrying with her a dead rabbit, food for her kits. She paused for a moment, dropping her load as she came upon the little girl, hardly more than eight or nine, who slept beneath her kits. There was a strange presence around this human, but it was far from threatening, almost protective, and even in her sleep she looked exhausted. 

Keira scooped up the rabbit once again, moving carefully around the sleeping figure and jumping up amongst her now wide-eyed and open-mouthed kits. They jumped upon their mother, demanding their breakfast, as they hadn't gotten a midnight snack. The rabbit was quickly skinned and, as Keira tore off bits for each kitten, the count was off. 

"Myew!" The girl awoke to the sensation of a kitten's rough tongue on her nose and velvet fur rubbing over her abused flesh. She slowly propped herself up on one arm, reaching out to pat the head of the insistent neko. "Me-myew!"

"Hello little one," she whispered, her voice hoarse and cracking from lack of use for such a long time. She had had no one to talk to, though she had stopped in a town every once in a while, everyone merely assumed she was a mute when she did not respond. "What might your name be?"

"Myew!" She laughed slightly, feeling a little shred of life return to her. The kitten responded by licking her nose again. "Myew myew?"

"Kirara, eh? Well Kirara, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you my name, because I don't know it either. I had to leave my family behind a long time ago, and I don't really remember anything from before that. I've been all by myself since then. I suppose it's gotten a little lonely… What?" She looked up as another cat appeared at the edge of the boulder, this one larger and obviously the little one's mother, holding a scrap of meat. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner… or breakfast… Hey! The sun is out." Her voice was slowly regaining its strength as she felt a tinge of happiness. She looked back down at the kitten, fumbling to climb the rock, and gently picked her up, setting her down on the flat amongst her siblings.

She smiled, laying back down to sleep as her eyes drooped, feeling protected as she began to dream.

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"'Kaa-san! 'Kaa-san! Daijobu?" the small figure cried as her mother cried in pain. The tall figure knelt in response and gave her daughter a loving smile.

"I'm fine, love. Why don't you go play with your sisters?" Her voice was soothing, but it had not yet lost that tinge of pain. She let loose a small laugh as the girl nodded and bound enthusiastically out the doorway. Turning back, she gathered jars of medicines and examined the wound in her stomach. The flesh was slowly growing back, but infection was nearly inevitable.

…

"Aoko! Wait up! Akako!" Her voice held a note of panic in it as she ran after her sisters. "Why won't you wait for me?"

"Hey, sis, don't worry about it," Tsuki laughed, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Spar with me a little?" She quickly nodded, following him off. Neither noticed the figure in the nearby fields as it turned to follow the elder girls.

****

"Look at her, Minori. You can't expect me to just leave her there! She looks starved, and she's so small! Please, we don't need to keep her with us long. I merely wish to give her a chance at actually surviving," a woman wined, staring at her brother pleadingly. 

"What makes you so sure she's not doing perfectly fine on her own?" he responded, apprehensive, but aware that his words lacked all conviction. His sister responded only by glaring at him. "Alright, Nasake, alright. You win."

Keira's growling was quieted by Nasake as Minori scooped up the child. She stirred slightly in her sleep only to fall even deeper into it, lulled by the rocking of the man's arms and the sleepy purr of Kirara on her stomach. 


	3. Nasake

"Mmm," she groaned, squinting her eyes as the light filtered in through a small window in the wall facing her. What… Wait, where was she? She quickly gained a sitting position, though her muscles ached in protest. The last thing she had remembered was falling to sleep with Kirara curled up beside her out in the woods. This hut certainly wasn't that clearing. 

"Myew?" Her head shot down to see Kirara laying beside her, looking up with quizzical eyes. 

"Kirara," she breathed, her voice once again hard to use. "You have any clue where we are?" 

"Myew."

"You either, huh? How about we go find out?" She grasped the wall, slowly standing on wobbly legs. Kirara stood as well, moving toward her, head cocked to the side, as she attempted to take a step, only to collapse back on the futon. "Or not."

She looked up as the material hanging over the doorway was pushed aside. In stepped a young woman, her skin was tan and her hair ranged from ebony to a blond-brown color. As she turned, her cloudy mahogany eyes rested on the girl.

"You're awake, are you? It's about time! You've been sleeping for nearly a week!"

"Whe… Where are we?" the girl stuttered, wondering what a week was. She was still dazed as her dreams, memories-yet-not, of her past slowly forced their way to the back of her mind, lying in wait for the next opportunity to strike.

"We are in a nearly non-existent village on the outskirts of a dying forest about ten minutes walk from Keira's clearing, where we found you." Minutes? As was previously stated, the child had no sense of time. This woman was unbelievably confusing to top it off. She was staring off into space as she walked around the hut, grabbing herbs and instruments as she went. "Something wrong?" she inquired, cocking her head to the side.

"Umm… uh, ano… I uh…"

"You don't understand Nasake either, do you?" asked a voice from the doorway. There was a man there, quite similar to the woman in appearance, though his hair was shorter and his eyes lacked the mist. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as a smile grew on his face. "Don't worry, I've lived with her my entire life and she's still a mystery to me." The woman, Nasake apparently, turned from her work to send a glare in the general vicinity of her brother.

"Don't listen to Minori," she hissed, turned back to her work of grinding an herb that smelled almost as bad as a rotting corpse, which only brought the girl to remember her family once again. She laid down once again, hardly noticing as the other two humans in the room began bickering. The only time she really looked at something was when Kirara purred, curling up beside her. She reached to her face, only to find it wet with tears she had not known were there. It was not long before she fell asleep again, in spite of the sun that still shone in her eyes. 

***

"Aoko! Akako! Where are you?" Panic was evident on her face as she searched for her daughters. Her husband was locating the boys elsewhere. They had come after them once, it had only been a matter of time before they came again. Earlier she had foolishly sent the children out to play, ignoring the nagging feeling she had in the back of her mind. Now they were out of sight, and in grave danger. As she reached the tree line, she called out again. A loud snap of twigs and the girls quickly ran to her side from the underbrush, clinging to her kimono and staring ahead in horror. All conscious thoughts fled from her mind as she looked upon the sight.

"Mother!" A snake youkai was wrapped about several of the trees, her youngest daughter wrapped in its tongue, quickly headed for its mouth. Just before its jaws snapped shut, her husband and the boys crashed through the trees to her side, and her thoughts returned to her head. She went to race forward, to rescue her daughter, but warm, strong arms held her back, as the jaws sealed, hiding the little girl from view, and undoubtedly her life.

"NO!" her scream rang through the air, followed by a blinding pink-purple light. "Mi…"

***

"Midoriko!"

Nasake and Minori turned to the young girl, now sitting erect on make-shift futon, one seeing and the other not as she curled in on herself, sobbing.

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Okay, so this _is_ the full chapter, yes, I realize it's not that much longer, but it's something, and I really hate the fact that I'm getting it out so late, but I just got back in school and I took some really tough courses, so I'm gonna have to be dealing with a lot of homework.

Sorry it took so long. Enjoy, 

Sessh

By the by, I don't tell people to review down here because it's their choice, but reviews do boost my self-esteem and that, in turn, helps me write a little easier, meaning that I'll get more writing done… so reviews _are_ appreciated. 


	4. Midoriko

Disclaimer: I don't own any Inuyasha characters, therefore, Midoriko and Kirara are not mine. Nasake, Minori, and Midoriko's family are mine. 

*** 

"Shhhh." The sound was soothing, especially when made by Nasake's already soothing voice, and yet, it still didn't help the girl. It reminded her of the rain, the damned eternal rain. Maybe she had just been imagining the rain that made up most of her existence as she knew it. 

She had awoken the day before, screaming what she now knew to be her own name, and she was now in a state of shock. Her mind was fine, perhaps too fine even with all the thoughts that bombarded her. The rest of her body was practically paralyzed. Her eyes were sealed closed, her mouth was dry and could just barely move. All other muscles were relaxed. So there she was, paralyzed in a stranger's house with no way to see or communicate, forced to suffer through that loathed sound. 

Meanwhile her mind raced, and it contemplated a previously asked question: was she alive? It was hard to believe she was as she had dreamt her own death. It was all so confusing. Kirara had disappeared shortly after she had awoken and there was still no sign of her. 

"Poor girl," Minori whispered from his typical place in the doorway. "Any idea who she is?" He turned his gaze from the flame-streaked sky to the pensive face of his sister. 

"No, but I do know she's special, important. We need to take care of her." She turned her unseeing gaze back to the young girl, her hands busy preparing a potion to help heal the girl. It was then that Kirara returned, sliding next to Midoriko without the notice of the siblings. In her mouth she carried a leaf, red and stiff with black veins. 

"Myew." Eat. Midoriko, with her strange understanding of the kitten, attempted to open her eyes again, in rain. When she tried to talk it came out as a low groan, but it caught the attention of the other two. 

"Is she awake?" Minori asked, walking the few feet of the hut to kneel beside his sister, ready for her instructions. 

"Pull back her eyelid and tell me if you see her iris or if is all white." Doing as she said he was met with the immobilized stare of the girl. 

"Her iris." 

"Then she is awake. Here give her some of this," she said, handing him the potion she had been working on, "hopefully it will help." 

She could feel the bowl being held to her lips and the soothing texture of the potion, the taste, though, nearly caused her to vomit. A few minutes of silence and her muscles began to twitch, but she still couldn't move. 

"Myew." Eat. She still couldn't talk, but Kirara was both persistent and determined. She climbed into Nasake's lap, forcing the leaf between her fingers and nudging her hand towards the paralyzed girl. "Myew." Feed. 

"Minori," she called, holding up the leaf, "describe this to me." 

***

"Midoriko!" She yelled, lunging after her daughter, only to be held back by her husband. "Noo!" she cried, sinking to her knees. "No, my baby." 

"Come on, Ayumi, we need to hurry the children to some safe place." She slowly nodded as the statement processed in her frozen mind. Her legs trembled as she stood, grabbing the arms of her two remaining daughters and turning to run back to their home. It wasn't the far, but the youkai made it there first. 

'It's over,' was her final thought as the youkai's claws scraped across her stomach. She remained alive long enough to watch the death of her daughters, and the bright pink-purple light that cut the youkai in half, revealing the crumpled body of Midoriko. 'Or not.' 

***

"She's awake," Minori called as Midoriko began to stir. She could remember swallowing small pieces of some plant, and then she was there again looking on in a memory that was not quite hers. 

She knew what happened now. Though she saw from something of a third person point of view, she felt what the memory of herself was feeling. She felt that weak power within her grow in her time of need. And now, long after the danger had passed, it was still there, hiding within her, its power within her no weaker than it was when it burst from her and destroyed the youkai. It was still threatening to overflow. She needed a way to control it. 

"Hello again," Nasake said cheerfully, setting a tray of food beside Midoriko. "Glad to see you back among the living." The girl just nodded, petting Kirara, who had crawled into her lap, when she sat up. 

"What's your name?" 

"Midoriko." Her voice was still hoarse. 

"What's your friend's name?" 

"Kirara." 

"Where's your family?" 

Silence. 

Silence. No one spoke for fear of destroying the sudden understanding that they were struck with. Nothing really needed to be said. After a long while, with Minori doing nothing, Kirara sleeping, and Midoriko eating, Nasake opened her mouth to address the girl, but was interrupted by a scream. 

"Demon!" 

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yay! I got to three pages! I'm so happy. And I'm also happy because my other story, Persistence, now has nine reviews (a total from both media miner and ff.net)… yes, happy, happy day. Happy belated Halloween all! 

Sesshiria


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